USING APPROPRIATE

CRITICAL APPROACHES IN
WRITING A CRITIQUE
English for Academic and Professional Purposes

Learner's Module in Senior High School

Quarter 1 ● Module 5
JEANILYN M. COLAL
Developer

Department of Education • Cordillera Administrative Region

Learning Objectives:
By the end of the module, you should be able to:
1. identify the appropriate critical approaches applicable in essay excerpts presented;
2. analyze descriptions to match critical approaches according to how they are written; and
3. write short essay excerpts.
The module is comprised of the following parts:

What I Know
Below is a 15 - item activity that you will work on to discover what you know about the lesson. Read
the instructions well and do the assigned task per set. Write your answers on your answer sheet.

I ON CRITICAL APPROACHES
A. Identification: Read each statement and identify the approach it refers to.
Use the following choices.

A. Feminist criticism D. Psychological criticism

B. Formalist criticism E. Sociological criticism
C. Historical criticism

1. It is one of the critical approaches in writing a critique that is based on the reflection of
the writer's behavior and personality.
2. It is related with the interpretation of texts based on how women are treated in
the society or based on how they influence it.
3. It is analyzing a text based on its structure.
4. A text is interpreted or analyzed based on its time frame when a certain event occurred.
5. It deals with the analysis of texts which deal with problems or events happening in the
society.

B. Filling the blanks/"Question-Answer"

1
 Using the same choices above, fill in the blanks with the letter that represents your final answer in
each item number. .

6. When a text content is interpreted as a result of the culture and practices of people in a
certain place, it has _______.
7. How do you analyze an essay that deals with the effects of the emotional and mental
abuse suffered by a certain child that led him to cling to God for guidance and strength?
8. An author of an essay that pays much attention to the meaning, grammar and correct
organization of ideas in his writing can be classified under ______.
9. An author wrote an essay about World War II as a result of his grandparents' story to him
during their younger years with his siblings. What appropriate critical approach can be used
to analyze his essay?
10. ___________ is used to analyze an essay depicting "Canao", "pinikpikan," tapiz and
other ethnic customs in the Cordillera region.

Read each statement and write True if the statement is correct and False if it is not.

11. Psychological criticism involves considering the author’s mind and personality.
12. Formalist criticism can be best used in analyzing Edgar Allan Poe’s sad and mysterious stories when
we consider the real-life murders he witnessed during his younger years.
13. Reader-response criticism can best be applied in evaluating Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream”
piece when it was written due to the discrimination imposed upon the Black Americans.
14. In writing a literary critique, the use of IBC pattern or introduction, body and conclusion can be
considered as a format.
15. In writing a reader-response criticism, focus your analysis on the structure of the text that includes the
language used, grammar, symbolism and others.

What's In
Activity: Re-check!
Fill in the blanks with the correct responses to show how you can recall the previous lesson on
outlining. Write your answers on your answer sheet.

Outlining can be in the form of 1)___________ or 2) ____________ outline.

This can be done to present a clear and organized data for easy understanding. The 3)
__________ outline is usually brief while the 4)____________ outline contains more
specific and complete idea. It is like a mini-thesis statement. Thus, for clarity of
presentation, 5)____________ is one of the best options.

Your knowledge about outlining will surely help you in your writing activities. This will aid you in organizing
your ideas so that it will be easier for you to come up with a written critique.

What's New
Activity: Explain Me!

Have you ever come across the words "critical," "approaches" and critique? You will
meet these words in our lesson today. If you have been reading pocketbooks, maybe you have tried doing
critical assessment or critical analysis of stories there. When we say critical assessment, it is doing a
review or recall of the structure and events in the story and making a judgment about it.
The word critical means significant or essential. In your lesson here, you will be writing
your evaluation of a literary piece using any of the approaches (methods) that will be presented. Critique,
on the other hand, means review, assessment or evaluation. It is a detailed analysis, assessment or
evaluation of literary works like essays, short stories, novels, poems, speeches and the like (Google
dictionary). Thus, this lesson requires you to use the correct and significant methods in evaluating literary
works.
2
What is It
Reading is not meant only for knowledge-gain and pleasure. Trying to evaluate a literary piece can
help you see its importance, its impact to you as a reader and its influence to other readers. Later, besides
writing your own evaluation, you should also choose the correct approach in assessing a particular literary
piece.

At times, we have different perspectives in looking at particular literary pieces. However, let us
consider the following questions: 1. What do we need to read? 2. Why do we read it? 3. How do we read
it? These will help us understand our purpose in reading and they help us stay focused to be able to get
the gist of the literary work we are reading.
According to Mx. Rubino (2015), there are approaches or techniques used in evaluating literary
works. Below are some of them.

CRITICAL DESCRIPTION
APPROACHES

1. Formalist This is evaluating the meaning of a certain literary piece. In doing so, we
Criticism or study its literary elements like characters, setting, point
Formalism of view, imagery, etc. They are analyzed based on how they work to give
meaning. According to Rubino (2015), the reader needs to close read the texts
and analyze the effects of literary elements and techniques on the text.
Further, according to Wilber (n.d.), this is an approach that analyzes,
interprets, and evaluates the features of a text. This can be in terms of
grammar, syntax, symbolism and use of language to arrive at the meaning of a
literary text.
Example: Reading a poem by focusing on its rhythms, rhymes, beats
and structure…
2. New This reveals that every literary work is the product of its time and its world.
Historicist or In other words, the piece of literature was done during a time when a certain
Historical thing or event happened. (Rubino, 2015)
Criticism
Example: Dr. Jose Rizal wrote Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo due
to the sufferings the Filipinos had been experiencing during the colonization of
the Spaniards.
This is based on the work of Sigmund Freud. We can see the text as a
3.Psychologica product of the author’s mind and personality. In other words, the text or piece of
l literature was written based on what's in the mind and personality of the author
(Rubino, 2015).
/
Psychoanalytic Example: Most of Edgar Allan Poe's sad stories that are full of mystery
Criticism were influenced by the real-life murders he witnessed during his time.
4. Reader - The meaning of a text depends on the response of the reader
Response who has read a certain literary piece.
Criticism According to Rubino (2015), the meaning of the text is the result of three
elements:
READER + READING SITUATION + TEXT = MEANING

Example: You read a story about a central character who is fun of viewing
purely horror stories. The effect made him fearful not only during night time, but
day time, as well. With this that you have read, you can apply reader response
criticism.
5. Sociological According to Rubino (2015), social contexts must be taken into
Criticism consideration when analyzing a text. This has something to do with the beliefs
and values of a society that are reflected in a text.
This may also include economic, political, and cultural issues present
within a literary piece.

Example: The text, “A symbol of unity in diversity - The story of the

3
 Cordillera Unity Gong” reflects the beliefs and values of the Igorots or the
Cordilleran people in the Northern part of Luzon.
6. Feminist This focuses on the roles, positions, and influences of women within
Criticism or literary texts. Long ago, most writers are men that’s why they usually address
Feminism their readers as if they are all men and exclude the female readers. There was
gender-bias. Now, feminist criticism challenges the oppression of women in
literary works. As a result, more and more females began to shine in the art of
writing.

Example: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman reflects

the depression of a woman who suffers confinement for postnatal treatment.
This is based on the author’s experience.

Now that you have come across some of the critical approaches in evaluating literary works, the
next thing that you should know is when and how you can use each when you write.

In writing your criticism on a certain text, essay or any literary piece, bestessaystips.com says that
the introduction, body and conclusion can be used as a pattern. In the introduction, introduce the theme
or subject. In the body, discuss your thoughts about the content of the text and under the conclusion, you
can express your stand, summary or you can also offer solutions to the specific issue/issues discussed.

Here are some guidelines in writing a critique as suggested by some sources in each of the
approaches.

1. Formalist Criticism
According to Bellevue College (n.d), in using this approach, you examine the whole text. This
includes the individual scenes, chapters, characters, setting, tone, the point of view, the diction (choice of
words) and all other elements of the text. See if the author was able to use each of the elements
appropriately. Then, after you have analyzed them, you give a description on how they work together in
order to give meaning (theme) to the text.
https://www2.bellevuecollege.edu/artshum/materials/engl/silano/fall2005/101lsb/formalistlitanalyassgn.htm

2. Historical Criticism
Here, you write about the background of the text. You include some facts about the author’s life,
and the history or circumstances behind the time. As you are writing about history, be careful of dates. Do
not include more facts about the text. Make arguments that are important and are verified by historical facts
and information.

3. Psychological or Psychoanalytical
According to Evans (2017), some good psychoanalytic criticism papers can be written from
films/movies, documentaries, novels, academic treatises, art, poetry and politics. In her article on how to
write a psychology critique paper, Cherry (2021) also says that in writing the introduction, begin it by
describing the article and the author you are critiquing. Include your thesis statement and the reason why
you think it is important. Remember that the thesis is a sentence that contains the main points of your
critique. In the body, provide a brief summary of the article or text, including your critique. In the conclusion,
provide the overview of the article’s argument, your conclusion and reactions.
https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-write-a-critique-paper- 2795705

4. Reader-Response Criticism
Lumenlearning.com suggests that in the beginning paragraph of your critique, mention the title of
the text, the author and the main thesis. In the body, it also says that you write why you like or dislike the
text and why you agree or disagree with the author. You have to identify the purpose of the text and critique
it. You can also include what the text can do to you personally and with your life. Include stating what you
learned, how your views and opinions are challenged, what you praise about the text and what problems
you had with it. In the conclusion, you may discuss your overall reaction to the text, whether you would read
something else like this in the future, whether you would read something else by this author and if you
would recommend reading this text to someone else and why.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introliterature/chapter/reader-response-criticism/

5. Sociological Criticism
According to Iwriteessays.com, the writer can express certain feeling in relation to an issue that
he/she feels is ineffective or corrupt. Examples of topics can be on bureaucracy and the branches of
government.

4
 In writing, write the topic first in free style and narrow down your focus. Identify one issue in the
society that you want to deal with. In its introduction, explain the basics of the problem. In the body, give
examples on how the problem has affected members of the society. In the conclusion, try to provide
solutions.

6. Feminist Criticism
The writer has to prepare a draft of the female characters in the text. He/She has to take note of
their background, childhood, sexuality, work and outlook on the world as Writemypaper.org suggests. The
better you get to know the characters, the easier it will be to draw conclusions about them. The second step
recommended is to compare and contrast these female heroines with their male counterparts. Their
dissimilarity is of importance for feminist criticism. While contrasting them, you have to take note of the
historical period of time, mentioned in the text, and decide whether the relationship, shown between the
male and female characters, was typical/normal for that time or not. By this, you can indicate the reasons.
It is also advisable to analyze the conversations between men and women, their attitude to each other and
their overall role in the text. Make sure you examine the views that men and women in the text express
concerning females.https://www.writemypapers.org/examples-and-samples/how-to-write-a-feminist-criticism-
essay.html

Here is an example of a historical criticism of the novel, "Noli Me Tangere." (Ana May
Gorpido, 2017). Notice how the writer evaluated the text.

"Noli Me Tangere" is a Spanish language novel written by Jose Rizal and

published in 1887 in Berlin. The novel is commonly referred to by its shortened named
"Noli." The English translation was originally titled, "The Social Cancer", although recent
publications have retained the original Latin. The original Latin, the literal translations is
"Touch Me Not."
Noli Me Tangere was Rizal's first novel. He was 26 at its publication. Rizal started
writing it in Madrid Spain from 1884-1885. Half of it was done by the time he left for
Paris and it was printed in Berlin Germany on 1887. This book was historically
significant and was instrumental in establishing the Filipino’s sense of national identity.
The book indirectly influenced a revolution although the author, Dr. Jose Rizal
advocated non-violent means and only direct representation to the Spanish
government.
The book was instrumental in creating a unified racial Filipino identity and
consciousness of many Filipinos previously identify with their respective region to the
advantages of Spanish authorities.
http://heoyokah.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-historical-criticism-of-novelnoli.html
In that structure, the writer used introduction, body and conclusion as a pattern in presenting her
critique.

What's More
After learning about the different approaches in evaluating literary texts, have the following
activities to enrich your knowledge more.

Activity 1: What am I fitted for?

Identify the correct approach that can be used to evaluate or assess the essay excerpts. Write the
letter of the correct answer on your answer sheet.

A. Formalist Criticism D. Reader -response

B. Historical Criticism E. Sociological Criticism
C. Psychological Criticism F. Feminist Criticism

1. Throughout most of Western history, women were confined to the domestic sphere, while public life was
reserved for men. In medieval Europe, women were denied the right to own property, to study, or to
participate in public life. At the end of the 19th century in France, they were still compelled to cover their

5
heads in public, and, in parts of Germany, a husband still had the right to sell his wife.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/feminism

2. The story of "Theft" written by Katherine Ann Porter takes place in New York City during the 1920's. This
unnamed female protagonist discovers that her purse, made of gold cloth, was missing. As the mid 20-
year-old woman ponders, she realizes she had her purse when she came home from a party the night
before. As she recollects her thoughts, a glimpse of her life was told within a small story. She has three
separate current "mates", running into each of them back to back on her way home. These three men take
all something mentally from her: happiness, love and hope.
https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/historical-criticism-of-theft/

3. After four hours of pain, he leaves the tattoo parlor with his dragon on his back, and a certain amount of
uneasiness in his soul. He asks himself: Was such a large dragon really a good idea? Why did he get it on
his back where he can't see it? Ambiguity pervades Adrian's conclusions about his experience. While he is
not elated with his new permanent body art, he doesn't seem to be quite ready to go out to find a tattoo
removal business right away. https://owlcation.com/academia/Response-Essay-Example

4. In Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour,”we can find imagery, which really helps bring aspects of the text
to life as we read. It creates a vast amount of imagery in Mrs. Mallard’s changing emotions throughout the
text. As described by Selina Jamtl, “As she sets aside the world of social conventions, her emotions
underscore the individuality that is awakening in her. This thing that is approaching her is her
consciousness of her own individuality, and she waits for it
fearfully…https://literarytheorystoryofanhour.wordpress.com/2017/05/20/first-blog-post/

5. At the end of the story, Buddy's super self-suppressed identity and his simple thought always depended
on his identity, but his super self proved that he changed his role to a hero. Lee relies on her identity and
super self through the story. Finally, her self balances the other two. The role of the big foot does not
change. His super self dominates his life. https://www.essaybot.com/sample/essays/detail?
id=49591&query=Human%20Development%20and%20The%20Psychoanalytic%20Perspective%20of

Activity 2: What am I?
Write the kind of critical approach that can possibly be used to interpret or to evaluate
the essay excerpts. Refer to the six approaches discussed earlier.

6. Different real-life murders have been cited as the inspiration for Poe’s tale. Among them is the 1830
murder of Joseph White of Salem, Massachusetts. The special prosecutor on the case, Daniel Webster,
published his Argument on the Trial as a pamphlet. In the text, he writes that the murderer’s guilt will
eventually reveal itself and that “the secret which the murderer possesses soon comes to possess him.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2087989/trivia

7. Throughout most of Western history, women were confined to the domestic sphere, while public life was
reserved for men. In medieval Europe, women were denied the right to own property, to study, or to
participate in public life. At the end of the 19th century in France, they were still compelled to cover their
heads in public, and, in parts of Germany, a husband still had the right to sell his wife.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/National-Organization-for-Men-Against-Sexism

8. Women were prevented from conducting business without a male representative, be it father, brother,
husband, legal agent, or even son. Married women could not exercise control over their own children
without the permission of their husbands. https://www.britannica.com/topic/feminism

9. The processes of "condensation" and "displacement" are both described by Freud in The Interpretation
of Dreams: thoughts and images in dreams may have more than one meaning, Freud says, and one
thought or image may be transferred onto another one, possibly because the mind finds the second thought
or image more acceptable than the first one. Freud labels the former process "condensation" and the latter
one "displacement…"https://www.123helpme.com/essay/Psychoanalytic-Criticism-28187

10. In his essay, "Let's Stop Scaring Ourselves," Michael Crichton addresses the problem that during his
lifetime, Americans have become burdened and consumed by highly publicized fears which turned out to
be false alarms. Crichton details of the many of the global scares he has witnessed, which include many
predictions which are mutually exclusive such as the scare for global cooling followed by the scare about
global warming. He notes that at one time we were worried about overpopulation and mass starvation, and,
at another, by the decline in the workforce and aging population.
https://fgc-enc1101.blogspot.com/2019/02/sample-reading-response.html

6
What I have Learned
Activity: Fill me in!

Fill in the blanks with the correct word or phrases.

In the lesson, I learned that literary texts or essays can be assessed through 1. _____
different ways. 2._____ is seen as giving priority to the roles that women play in the text. 3. _____
considers the author's reflection of himself. In 4. _____, societal problems can be adapted as
themes or subjects of discussion. Under 5. _____, this depicts the reaction, insight or effect
of the text to the reader. Further, 6. _____ centers on the structure of the text while 7. _____
speaks of the relationship of the text to past events during a period of time.

What I Can Do
Activity: Writing Time!
Look for an essay or literary piece that you are interested in and write a short critique about it.
Indicate the specific approach you used. Limit your words to 100 to 150 words. You can use the "IBC
(introduction, body & conclusion) format or just purely one-paragraph. Use the rubric below as your
guide.

Your
5 4 3 2 Score
Features
Major points were Selects couple Does not focus Missed the
Article selected and of major issues on major jest of the
discussed. but no issues article.
supporting
example
explained
Clear Minor edits Major edits Turns in
Writing articulate writing needed. Proof- needed. Get something.
used. One or two reading will help help so you Not college
minor edits needed you. Read aloud learn the level work at
to be a perfect to yourself and process. You all. Get help at
paper! Keep up the or ask others to will write a lot the writing
great work! read it out loud as a teacher - center.
to you. need to be a
competent
articulate
professional.
Well organized Minor jumping Major jumping No
Organization thinking that around on around on organizational
of writing reviews the article, points. Could be points made in thought
discusses the better with few review. Major demonstrated
major points in an minor moves. organizational in writing of
order that makes edits needed to review, major
sense, and closes articulate points
with your thoughts. clearly. discussed in
the article,
or your
thoughts
and ideas.

7
 Articulates your Brief mention of Does not write Write-up is not
Your thoughts on the thoughts, but any of your own a product of
Thoughts article in clear did not thoughts or one’s personal
manner. Discusses elaborate. No ideas about thoughts. It is
what you learned mention of what is copied.
from reading the learning from discussed in the
article or ideas you reading the article.
might use in the article.
future.

Post-Assessment
I TRUE OR FALSE ANALYSIS
Write True or False on your answer sheet.

1. Psychological criticism involves considering the author’s mind and personality.

2. Formalist criticism can be best used in analyzing Edgar Allan Poe’s sad and mysterious stories when we
consider the real-life murders he witnessed during his younger years.
3. Reader-response criticism can best be applied in evaluating Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” piece
when it was written due to the discrimination imposed upon the Black Americans.
4. In writing a literary critique, the use of IBC pattern or introduction, body and conclusion can be
considered as a format.
5. In writing a reader-response criticism, focus your analysis on the structure of the text that
includes the language used, grammar, symbolism and others.

II ON CRITICAL APPROACHES
A. Identification
Pick your answers from the choices inside the figure. Write them in capital
letters on your answer sheets

A. Feminist criticism D. Psychological criticism

B. Formalist criticism E. Sociological criticism
C.Historical criticism

1. It is one of the critical approaches in writing a critique that is based on the theory of Sigmund Freud.
7. It is related with the interpretation of texts based on how women are treated in the society or
based on how they influence it.
8. It is analyzing a text based on its structure.
9. A text is interpreted or analyzed based on its time frame when a certain event occurred.
10. It deals with the analysis of texts based on the reflection of the writer's behavior and
personality.

B. FILLING THE BLANKS/"QUESTION-ANSWER"

Provide response or fill in the blanks with the correct answer by choosing only the letter that
represents your final response. Use the same choices in number II above.

11. When a text content is interpreted as a result of the culture and practices of people in a
certain place, it has _______.
12. How do you analyze an essay that deals with the effects of the emotional and mental
abuse suffered by a certain child that led him to cling to God for guidance and strength?
13. An author of an essay that pays much attention to the meaning, grammar and correct
organization of ideas in his writing can be classified under ______.
14. An author wrote an essay about World War II as a result of his grandparents' story to
him during their younger years with his siblings. What appropriate critical approach can be
used to analyze his essay?
15. ___________ is used to analyze an essay depicting "Canao", "pinikpikan," tapiz and
other ethnic customs in the Cordillera region.
Additional Activity
Activity: Assess Me!

8
 Write a sociological criticism of the pandemic we are experiencing right now. You can make use of
the one-paragraph (100-150 words) format or the IBC format (no limit for number of words but not too long).
Place this on a short bond paper. Don't forget to write your name.
Use the same rubric under What I Can Do as your guide.

Answer Key